Prologue

Prologue

“This won’t do.”

The voice that spoke carried with it a hint of disappointment and barely veiled annoyance. In a small meeting room, two people sat. One was behind a mahogany desk, while the other sat in an extremely uncomfortable wooden chair, silently squirming.

There was very little too the room past the wooden floorboards that creaked with each step and the tinted wallpaper that was more yellow than white due to age.

The two men lived in completely different worlds, one in a pressed grey suit, and the visitor in a simple white button up and blue jeans.

The t-shirt he wore had an old noticeable stain he didn’t notice until he was actually in the room due to rushing there, thus buttoning up the shirt to hide it was no longer an option.

The suited man’s voice filled the room once again.

“There’s nothing wrong with trying new things, especially in college…but to be frank, you’re older than I am and you don’t seem to have any idea about your future. We’ve met a few times now yet we’ve made no progress.”

“I’m…I’m sorry. I’m still…working on it.”

The visitor could do nothing but apologize in a quiet, weak voice. They hated these meetings, but the school required them to ensure students were ‘making progress’, though in the end, as long as the tuition was paid, they didn’t really seem to mind what progress was made.

“Well you have time to work it out, so I suppose we can leave it here today.”

He was reminded of that as the suited man set the paper down on the desk.

“I’m not trying to be mean…”

The main trailed off looking at the name on the paper, his brows furrowed as his eyes moved over the letters on the page.

“Just call me Rhi…most do,” the visitor spoke up.

“I’ll do that then. I’m not trying to be mean Rhi, just blunt. I really do want the best for you.”

This was probably the fifth time Rhi had reminded him of his nickname but it didn’t matter, he just wanted the meeting to be over, more than likely the same as the man in front of him.

“...I understand.”

“Then we’ll meet again next month, try to bring some ideas next time. It’s your future after all, whatever you pick will be what you do for the rest of your life.”

“Of course…thank you.”

Rhi sprinted through the campus holding his hastily picked lunch in his hands, a random assortment of food he had grabbed in the cafeteria, not wanting to linger there long. Far too many people were there; he couldn’t hear himself think in places like that. He was thankful you could eat elsewhere, away from the noise.

His goal was in front of the clock tower of the school, which was on the old part of the campus, a place few went, thus it was the perfect oasis for a quiet lunch. In the last few months, ho, he had a lunch buddy, someone who he would meet and talk with, share stories and experiences.

He hadn’t managed to make a single friend since moving to this town, so having someone other than his reflection to talk to was a blessing he didn’t take for granted.

“Why are you still here?”

Another voice caused his feet to stop. Rhi froze at the corner, a few steps from his destination, clutching the tray in his hands a bit tighter.

“I’m waiting for that one guy I told you about.”

He recognized the voice of his lunch buddy, the other must be someone he knows.

“You’re still eating lunch with that guy? You shouldn’t put yourself out just because you pity him.”

“Look the dude’s out here eating every day on his own, he’s got no friends here, didn’t have any where he came from, I can’t just ignore the guy.”

“What are you going to be his friend then?”

“Of course not. I’m just eating with him, trying to give him a bit of confidence. I turn down any offer to hang out outside this.”

“I don’t even know what to say to that…well, look, he’s not here, let’s just go, maybe he actually found someone to eat with.”

“Well…yeah, he is late, I hope that’s the case, cause it was hard to watch him eat alone from the window.”

“I just didn’t look. You should try it.”

Rhi listened to the two as they walked away, waiting until he couldn’t hear their voices or footsteps anymore before turning and walking in the other direction.

“...guess I’ll eat somewhere else from now on.”

He wasn’t upset at either of them; he was more upset at himself than anything. He noticed his lunch buddy would avoid doing anything besides lunch, so he figured he was only putting up with him. He was upset at himself for being more bothered by losing that pity than actually being pitied in the first place.

With a bit of work, he managed to climb into the low window of a building. He knew the old part of the school like the back of his hand at this point, so he knew the old arts building was abandoned thanks to the new one. Thanks to rumors of ghosts no one came near the place, and it was old to a point people feared it would collapse one day, so no sane person entered.

The building was fine once one entered; however, the rumors were enough to keep most people away, and for now, that was all Rhi cared about.

He walked through the dark building, with the bulbs out, only the light from outside filled the building, casting most of the hallway in darkness. He passed by a few of the classrooms, abandoned and filled with cobwebs and dust.

Settling on a room he checked the door and found that he could open it.

“I barely have time for lunch now, but if I eat quickly I can-”

Rhi cut himself off as he walked into one of the rooms, mainly due to there being a figure in the center of the classroom.

A woman garbed in a long dark dress stood arms out, one foot behind the other, as if she had just finished a dance within the dimly lit classroom. The desks were pushed against the walls, and for a moment, the light from the window only seemed to focus on her, a spotlight for whatever performance she had provided to the empty audience, her tan skin illuminated by the fractured sunlight, giving it a warm glow. Her shoes rested on a nearby desk along with a slip of paper that Rhi would be familiar with, if he had been paying any attention to it.

In all his time in the world, he had never been so enraptured by another; he hadn’t even realized when he stepped into the room. How long had he stared at her long, wavy, flowing locks that matched the color of her dress? Her amber eyes rose to rest on him, and for a moment in the light, they almost seemed crimson.

“Ah.”

The sound came as he realized he had been staring, and lost any opportunity to contemplate what he saw further.

“I-I’m sorry…I didn’t mean.”

“Don’t move.”

The woman’s voice was firm but somehow melodic all the same, he found himself obeying before realizing it as she approached him.

A slim hand raised and rested on his cheek, soft fingers gently caressed it before resting on his face. She was close enough for him to feel her body heat, smell the soft scent of flowers from her hair and it took everything in him not to drop the tray in his hands as his body trembled.

“Don’t look away.”

He wasn’t sure how a voice could be soft yet demanding at the same time, and he could barely focus on thinking how as her face drew closer to his. The warmth of her breath tickled his nose as her supple lips parted slightly, her gaze focused intently into his own.

“You’ll do.”

Shink

He barely had time to register what had even happened as he felt the tray slip from his hands. The sensation in his stomach pulled him out of his daze causing him to look down, only to see the woman’s black ‘nails’ had pierced his stomach, coming out through the other side.

She stepped away as he collapsed to the ground, pain coursing through his body as he clawed at the dirty floor, trying to process what had happened.

His mouth opened, but no sound came out; he wanted to cry for help, but he could barely speak, and he knew no one would hear him anyway.

“Only one…it’s getting more difficult with each passing.”

He could hear the woman’s voice, but darkness was starting to close in around his vision. He was struggling to stay awake, but he could feel the blood under him, see that he was lying in a pool of it, and even trying to hold the wound was becoming troublesome.

His eyes moved to the stranger as she reached up and tapped one of the pillars with her knuckle, causing it to crack, her gaze falling back on him, a crimson glow in her eyes as her eyelids lowered slightly.

The ceiling above them started to collapse, pieces of it falling around them, darkness overtook his vision just as the ceiling caved in.